Phys.Org mentions an interesting article published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. The article concerns a fragment of a whale rib, dating to the Pliocene, that shows evidence of a shark bite. In this case the rib also displays evidence of having survived the attack. From Phys.Org: Continue reading →

Okay it’s none of the above, it’s a mountain lion spotted in St. Louis County. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The question is: What’s it doing in Chesterfield?

The Missouri Department of Conservation isn’t quite sure, but most likely the mountain lion was just passing through in search of territory or a mate.

The pictures taken Jan. 12 from a stationary wildlife camera mark the first confirmed sighting in St. Louis County since 1994, and the 13th in the state.

The department hasn’t ruled out that the cougar might belong to one of the 32 people in the state who have permits to keep captive mountain lions. It’s checking with them, conservation spokesman Joe Jerek said.

If it is a wild animal that would be really cool. Interestingly enough the area in St. Louis County where it was spotted is known for having a large deer population – but that is another story.

Zeray Alemseged and company will be publishing a paper in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology announcing the discovery of a new species of (extinct) raccoon dog. The new species, Nyctereutes lockwoodi – named, I’m guessing, after the late Charles Lockwood – dates to about 3.3 MYA. The new species is based on a nearly complete skull as well as fragments of other skulls…

Blogroll

"You may not be willing to admit that you resemble an ape; if your thousandth ancestor is more like an ape than you are, you may, if you wish, call it a coincidence. But if that thousandth ancestor's forebears become progressively more simian as you trace back the geneological lines, you will have to admit that somewhere in your family tree there squats an ape." Earnest Hooten

Charles Darwin

"But I had gradually come, by this time, to see that the Old Testament from its manifestly false history of the world, with the Tower of Babel, the rainbow at sign, etc., etc., and from its attributing to God the feelings of a revengeful tyrant, was no more to be trusted than the sacred books of the Hindoos, or the beliefs of any barbarian." Charles Darwin: The Autobiography